This week Keith Ward and his wife Wendy would have been celebrating her 54th birthday.

Instead, Keith is in lockdown surrounded by his memories of his wife of nearly 30 years, who sadly died of lung cancer in December.

Keith wants to use Wendy’s birthday milestone as a way to help raise awareness of the disease which took his wife away.

It was back in October 2017 while the couple were on holiday in Crete that their lives took a dramatic turn.

Wendy slipped and banged her back. She was okay until Christmas but in January she started getting really bad back pains. She went to the doctors, who originally put it down to the fall and then thought it could be kidney stones.

However, two months later, the pain had become so bad that she ended up in casualty. It was then that they found out that Wendy had small cell lung cancer.

Keith, a sales rep at Edmundson Electrical, said: ’We were stunned. With the exception of her back pain, she had no symptoms.

’She wasn’t breathless. She never coughed once. I still can’t get my head around that, how something this severe could happen with no signs, no warning.’

Wendy lived with her illness for 20 months, before passing away on December 1 last year.

’Throughout treatment, she never complained, even when it made her sick. That’s who she was. She was my hero,’ said Keith from his home in Bayr Cam, Douglas.

’This year, we would have been married for 30 years. We would have probably marked the occasion with a great holiday. We loved going away.

’Instead, I am at home, surrounded by memories. It’s hard, especially at the minute being in lockdown.’

Fortunately, Keith is not on his own, the couple’s daughter Natalie is living with him.

’I guess you just have to try and look for the good in every situation, however awful it is. It’s what Wendy would have done, so it’s what I’m trying to do,’ said Keith.

Wendy, who worked for Microgaming, also leaves her son Shaun.

Keith said: ’There is so little awareness around lung cancer, despite the shocking numbers it affects. Perhaps, if we’d known more, Wendy could have been diagnosed earlier.’

Keith has set up an online tribute page to Wendy which has raised more than £5,500 so far, including a £3,000 donation from Microgaming.

Lung cancer kills more people than breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers combined. Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation became an official Manx charity last year, setting up a dedicated office in the island.

Paula Chadwick, the charity’s chief executive, said: ’It is so important everyone has a clear understanding of the signs and symptoms of lung cancer.

’Lung cancer symptoms are often quite vague and can be easily dismissed as something else, especially at the minute in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.’

The more common symptoms include a persistent cough, breathlessness, repeat chest infections, unexplained tiredness and/or weight loss and hoarseness.

But there are also some more less recognisable symptoms such as clubbed fingers, blood clots and, like Wendy, back or shoulder pain.

More information about lung cancer is available at www.roycastle.org/isleofman.

While the charity’s monthly lung cancer support groups have been put on hold during the pandemic, its Ask the Nurse service is still operating. Call 0800 358 7200 or email [email protected]

You can contact Jane Hibbert at the charity’s island branch in Onchan on 672971 or by email at [email protected]

Wendy’s tribute page can be found at https://wendy-ward-1966-2019.muchloved.com/Fundraising